always tell me the odds

International Student Recruiting

As the international student representative for my section, I strive to maintain an understanding of how well our international students are integrating into the classroom as well as recruiting for internships and jobs. My understanding of the current pulse is that though international students are becoming more comfortable engaging in the classroom, recruiting has been a bit of a struggle. Over the last couple weeks, I’ve made a concerted effort to chat with as many international students as possible one-on-one to find out how they are doing in the recruiting process. I wanted to compile several issues I’ve noticed, and hopefully provide some actionable solutions to help students, both international and otherwise, to perform better in the process. Please note that I am writing specifically about the consulting recruiting process, but this advice should hold true for just about any recruiting.

Get feedback. One of the most common answers I hear when I ask people how they are doing in the process is “I don’t know.” Failure to get an invite to a closed-list event should not be the first data point you get in regards to how your recruiting is going. Students succeeding in the process are constantly seeking feedback from their peers, second years, and even recruiters. After chatting with a recruiter in office hours, ask people who sat next to you how they think you did and what you could improve on. Talk to peers who are recruiting for the same positions to get a gauge on how many phone chats they’ve made. You can’t succeed in networking if you don’t know where you stand.

Know yourself. One of the most basic questions a recruiter will ask you is “Why consulting?” You’d be surprised how many people cannot even answer this question. The key to answering this question is not to memorize the “About Us” page on their website. The key is to understanding yourself, what your strengths and goals are, and how those intersect with consulting. If you can’t answer this question on your own, recruiters are certainly not going to answer it for you.

Don’t treat recruiting as an academic exercise. Some skills in life may be learned through careful study of textbooks and other material. Soft skills cannot be learned from any sort of guide. The way to become better at recruiting is to practice beforehand with others. You should be practicing your pitch, your “Why consulting?” answer, and everything else before you try it with recruiters. To quote Sun Tzu:

“…the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won…”

There are so many people around you who can help you prepare, whether it’s your second year coach, your peers, second years, or the CDC. You cannot learn how to network or perform a case interview by simply reading a book. Get out there and practice with others.

If you are struggling with recruiting please don’t wait for others to ask you how it’s going. I and many others are willing and available to help. Be proactive and reach out.

Nathan Guo is a chemical engineer and MBA with experience scaling businesses around the world in China, Germany, and Jordan. He has experience in private equity consulting, venture capital, and web development, and also played poker professionally in the past.